Friday's letters to the editor

Lane Filler is wrong on government safety net

Columnist Lane Filler protests that the children of irresponsible parents who live on a welfare program bring children into the world who, in turn, become a "potential financial obligation on society."

I suggest that Filler does not pursue the logic of welfare programs far enough. Assuring the children of irresponsible parents of a solid education and good health will ultimately lift them out of the poverty and slum conditions in which they were born; instead of turning to crime and in one way or another continuing the cycle of negative impact on society, they are much more likely to gravitate to a respectable social level, become, themselves, taxpayers and responsible parents, have fewer children, and thereby reduce those costs that society pays for allowing its poorer elements to become emotional and financial burdens.

In the long run, it is always less expensive to raise people up than to pay for the consequences of keeping them down.

RODGER LEWIS

Crawfordville

rzlewis@comcast.net

Obama is to blame for government shutdown

Re: "Tea party beliefs fuel the health care battle" (letter, Oct. 3).

David Guttman has it backward. It is the president who has gutted the current Obamacare law. Obamacare does not say, "The president can implement sections of this law as he desires and can omit business, labor and other friends as he deems fit." Republicans rightly insist that it be implemented to all at the same time. It is really this simple. If you are in favor of Obamacare, you should not be in fear of this.

The government is shut down because President Obama has issued another red line. His subjective enforcement of the law is being challenged. Now, the effort is to inflict the most pain they can on the American people and blame this on Republicans.

The president needs to understand that red lines against foreign countries are one thing, but against the American people should not be tolerated.